The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission authorized nearly $34 million in final design contracts Tuesday for an eight-mile stretch of the Mon-Fayette Expressway from Jefferson Hills to Duquesne. If final design goes as expected, construction could begin in 2022 for the first of three remaining segments needed to finish the last 14 miles of the highway from Jefferson Hills to the Parkway East in Monroeville at a projected cost of $2.1 billion. That’s more than the $1.68 billion cost of the first 60 miles of the highway, started more than 40 years ago in northern West Virginia. The commission’s action Tuesday increased...

This is the chilling moment a group of nurses laughed as a World War II veteran died in a Georgia care home. The nurses were meant to be fixing an oxygen mask onto 89-year-old James Dempsey after he called for help saying he couldn't breathe. But a surveillance camera captured them laughing as the breathing machine failed, and Dempsey fell unconscious, and records show they waited an hour to call 911. One of the nurses is seen laughing so hard she is doubled over Dempsey's deathbed. Initially, Dempsey's family in Woodstock, Georgia, thought he had died of natural causes in...

Virginia House of Delegates candidate Danica Roem (D) has defeated longtime Del. Robert Marshall (R), becoming Virginia's first openly transgender elected official and one of just few in the nation, according to The Washington Post. "Danica will bring a reporter’s eye to Richmond, and we eagerly anticipate her results-oriented approach to deliver for her constituents in the 13th," Virginia House Democratic Caucus Leader David J. Toscano and Caucus Chair Charniele Herring said in a statement. "As a journalist, Danica Roem has covered the issues critical to Virginians and listened to a wide range of perspectives. During her campaign, Danica expanded...

Bowe Bergdahl will not serve more time behind bars, a military judge has decided eight years after he deserted his platoon in Afghanistan. His desertion, to which he pleaded guilty, and the subsequent search for him that led to the deaths of six soldiers did not result in the 14-year sentence prosecutors requested in the case. The judge also ruled that Bergdahl be dishonorably discharged, that his rank be reduced from sergeant to private, and that he be required to pay a $1,000 fine from his salary for the next ten months, CNN reported. “As everyone knows, he was a...

Been telling folks lately to be aware. Take out those ear plugs so you can hear whats going on around you. God gave us ears to hear dangers along with all the other sound waves. Look at the gym for instance. If Abdul came in blazing how long would it take for 90% to hear it. It would be too long and too late. Told the kids, keep your ears open these days you may hear danger b4 you see it.

A new company is tackling the stock photography industry’s overwhelming whiteness, one photo at a time. TONL, created by photographer and Street Ettiquette founder Joshua Kissi and entrepreneur Karen Okonkwo, launched on August 23 with a goal to provide stock photos that feature a more diverse array of subjects and scenarios. Kissi, a 28-year-old creative director of the company, told HuffPost that the inspiration behind the idea came from the personal experiences he and Okonkwo (who he met through his girlfriend) experienced in the media industry.

Nurses at a naval hospital in Florida have been booted from their posts after sick photos went viral of them rudely posing with newborn babies and referring to the tots as “mini Satans.” One of the pics posted to Snapchat shows Allyson Thompson, a corpsman at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, flipping the bird to a baby who’s wrapped in a blanket, along with the caption, “How I currently feel about these mini Satans,” according to Action News Jacksonville. In another photo, Thompson grins as she holds a baby up by its arms. The pic was shared by a woman who identified...

The Wall Street Journal arrived yesterday, along with its semi-annual Mens Style magazine. This is the cover:Not shocking, as the WSJ men’s style editors have been pushing metro-sexual men for the better part of two decades and the downright goofy-gay “fashion” for the past 8 years. So the sight of Jared Leto* on the cover of their Fall Issue of the Men’s Style magazine in a “Gucci coat, Lena Skadegard necklace (top), Paul Morelli necklace and his own gold necklace” was not shocking. After all, this former business journal and bastion of Brooks Brothers haberdashery is now owned by Rupert...

Libertarianism.org, a project from the Cato Institute, claimed “Islamic teachings are consistent [with] many libertarian principles, such as tolerance, property rights & individualism” in a tweet on Tuesday. In the post linked in the tweet, Libertarianism.org also praised Ibn Khaldun as a libertarian hero, describing him as “the most consistent of the many free-market economists in Islamic history,” despite the fact that Khaldun promoted slavery. “Therefore, the Negro nation are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because [Negroes] have little [that is essentially] human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated,”...

How bad has gun violence gotten in Sacramento, Calif.? City leaders now plan to pay gang members $1.5 million for a cease-fire. Following a fatal shooting last weekend in a city park, the Sacramento city council unanimously approved a controversial program called Advance Peace in an effort to address a recent spike in violence. The program offers gang members cash stipends for graduating from school and generally staying out of trouble.

Doing a bit of research and looking for honest opinion without searching the internet for the answer first. I realize the answers here may differ from those I've received elsewhere. To be clear: I'm not asking to be judgmental. Rather, I would just like honest answers based on individual awareness of the noted aspect of history and our own Constitution, without regard for its origin. Questions: 1. Does your memory serve that the terms describing "concentration camp" and "death camp" are interchangeable and pertain to the Nazi Jew-murdering era? 2. Are you aware that there was a German Constitution in...

WASHINGTON â€• President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned a notorious former Arizona sheriff who willfully violated a federal judgeÂ’s order by unlawfully detaining individuals his officers claimed might be in the country illegally. Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had previously proclaimed himself Â“AmericaÂ’s toughest sheriff,Â” was convicted of criminal contempt last month for violating a 2011 order that barred Arpaio and his office from detaining individuals solely based on suspicions about their legal status. Arpaio, 85, was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5. Â“Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his lifeÂ’s work of protecting the public...

The Greatest Twitter Account EverPosted: 15th February 2013 by Taxi Hack in Uncategorized 1 I was reluctant to get on Twitterâ€¦ Iâ€™m really busy, and I just donâ€™t have time to pay attention to the moronic missives of talentless rappers or some vapid celebutardâ€™s most recent yeast infection. Seriouslyâ€¦ if you arenâ€™t banging Kim Kardashian, why would you give a ratâ€™s ass about anything she has to say? But on the other hand, I find that I do like reading the tweets of other hacksâ€¦ misery loves company, I suppose. But most of all, I enjoy Twitter accounts that...

President Donald Trump has endorsed Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama's Senate race. In a Tuesday night tweet, the President said "Senator Luther Strange has done a great job representing the people of the Great State of Alabama. He has my complete and total endorsement!"

The BBC on Sunday revealed Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor for hit series Doctor Who. She will be the first female lead for the sci-fi series on the U.K. public broadcaster. Current lead Peter Capaldi will leave his role after this year's Christmas special...Earlier this year, Pearl Mackie was tapped to play the first openly gay companion to the space-hopping doc.

A former Austinite is now The United Methodist Church's first openly non-binary trans person to be ordained as a deacon. After 12 years, M Barclay, who prefers the pronouns them/their, can call themself reverend. It's a title that took 12 years to earn-- more than twice as long as most Methodists pursuing the same ordination. "I am just filled with joy and excitement that this wall has been broken down-- at least in this moment," says Barclay.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A South Florida university awarded an honorary degree to Trayvon Martin, Saturday. Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, took the stage at Florida Memorial University’s commencement in Miami Gardens to receive a posthumous bachelor’s degree in aeronautical science on their son’s behalf. Fulton and Martin said the ceremony was bittersweet, and now they’re passing on an inspirational message to Trayvon’s fellow graduates.

An FBI translator with top-secret security clearance traveled to Syria in 2014 and married a key Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist she was assigned to investigate, causing a serious security headache to the agency. CNN reported on Tuesday that the rogue employee, Daniela Greene, lied to the FBI when she told them she was traveling to visit her parents, and instead warned her new husband he was under investigation, according to federal court records. The man Greene married was Denis Cuspert, a German rapper turned ISIS recruiter...